The Hagia Sofia
This is one of the "must see" sights in Istanbul. It is a survivor from Byzantine times.
Built around 500 A.D. It is huge, and cold inside. The fountain and park you see are inbetween the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, which was built by the Ottoman's to rival the Hagia Sofia, or to do it one better.
Street Urchins
These guys accosted me after right after I took this photo. They reached in my pocket yelling "Baksheesh!". Finally another man in the street saw this, and yelled at them to leave me alone.The one in the center, looks like a future criminal, don't he?
Carpet Shop
Ahh, the carpet shop.These are everywhere in Turkey, every block there are 3 or more of them. In Istanbul, they are very aggressive. You will be offered "tours" of the Mosques, invited to tea, anything to start up a conversation, which can last for an hour, without ever mentioning carpets, but eventually, they will say "Would you like to have some tea with me in my shop?" or something like that. I had one guy tell me "You WILL buy a carpet before you leave Turkey, my friend, maybe not from me, but you will buy one"(I eventually bought one)But get educated first before you buy, or you asking for trouble.
Street scene
Typical street scene in the "Old Town" of Sultanahmet. Narrow medieval streets, little mini-markets like this one, with taxi's whizzing by at breakneck speed.I did not go to the modern part of Istanbul, I was only there for 4 days. I did see the waterfront area,where a shoe shine man asked to "see" a $50.00 bill, so he could see what president was on it.(no, he didn't get it)he just dirtied up my shoes with his filthy brush a little.And also in Istanbul, I had a wild dog who would not leave me alone, kept jumping on me and following me around, people were starting to laugh, so I had no choice but to....jump in a taxi to get me the hell out of there! Istanbul was kind of smelly too, but very interesting.
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